diff --git a/kernel/profile.c b/kernel/profile.c
index efa58f63dc1b..7fc621404230 100644
--- a/kernel/profile.c
+++ b/kernel/profile.c
@@ -108,6 +108,13 @@ int __ref profile_init(void)
 
 	/* only text is profiled */
 	prof_len = (_etext - _stext) >> prof_shift;
+
+	if (!prof_len) {
+		pr_warn("profiling shift: %u too large\n", prof_shift);
+		prof_on = 0;
+		return -EINVAL;
+	}
+
 	buffer_bytes = prof_len*sizeof(atomic_t);
 
 	if (!alloc_cpumask_var(&prof_cpu_mask, GFP_KERNEL))